William Driver (1803–1886) was a U.S. ship captain. He coined the phrase Old Glory for the U.S. flag.
Young Capt. William Driver of Salem, Massachusetts was presented a beautiful flag by his family and a group of friends. Driver was delighted with the gift. He exclaimed, "I name her 'Old Glory,'" and Old Glory subsequently accompanied the captain on his voyages. Driver later stated that he received the flag on his birthday, in the year 1831.
Captain Driver quit the sea in 1837. He settled in Nashville, Tennessee, where he had relatives living. On patriotic days he displayed Old Glory proudly from a rope extending from his house to a tree across the street. As the Civil War began, after Tennessee seceded from the Union in 1861, Driver feared that Old Glory might be confiscated or destroyed by the Confederate authorities. He hid the flag, having it sewn inside a comforter. When Union soldiers entered Nashville on February 25, 1862, Driver removed Old Glory from its hiding place. He carried the flag to the Tennessee State Capitol and raised it on the capitol flagpole.
For more info, read "How the Flag Became Old Glory" by author Emma Look Scott
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/27853/27853-h/27853-h.htm
[Source: Wikipedia]
